Vehicle manufacturers design or select various aesthetic and functional characteristics of a vehicle to provide a characteristic “look and feel” desired by corresponding target groups of consumers. In addition to structural hardware components, vehicle engine, transmission, suspension, steering and other systems may be calibrated to meet desired performance and fuel economy goals consistent with the desired “look and feel”. Vehicles may include special-purpose operating modes selectable by the operator for a particular application. For example, vehicles may include a trailering mode, an off-road or 4×4 mode, economy mode, performance mode, etc. A corresponding button or switch on the dashboard or gear selector may be provided to activate the special-purpose operating mode. In one example of a performance mode selected by a corresponding pushbutton or switch, automatic transmission shift points and shift feel are adjusted to extend shift points and provide a more aggressive or faster shift. To reduce the development time required to provide a complete performance calibration for the engine or transmission, this may be accomplished by providing a performance adjustment factor used to adjust corresponding values of the operating parameters stored in memory.
While use of dashboard switches or other hardware installed in the vehicle to select or activate a special-purpose operating mode is convenient for many applications, this strategy requires modification of the vehicle dashboard, console, gear selector, etc. and may be cost-prohibitive for low volume applications. In addition, the special purpose mode activation switch is integrated into the vehicle design such that the special purpose mode must be ordered/specified during the vehicle build or included in all similar vehicles. Likewise, if the activation or control switch is permanently installed in the vehicle, the special purpose mode is available to any vehicle operator.